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Animal Caretakers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Feed, water, groom, bathe, exercise, or otherwise provide care to promote and maintain the well-being of pets and other animals that are not raised for consumption, such as dogs, cats, race horses, ornamental fish or birds, zoo animals, and mice. Work in settings such as kennels, animal shelters, zoos, circuses, and aquariums. May keep records of feedings, treatments, and animals received or discharged. May clean, disinfect, and repair cages, pens, or fish tanks.

Related: Animal Breeders Animal Control Workers Animal Trainers Veterinary Assistants & Laboratory Animal Caretakers Veterinary Technologists & Technicians

Industries: Service Retail Professional, Science, & Technical

Summary
Details

Advise pet owners on how to care for their pets' health.
Do facility laundry and clean, organize, maintain, and disinfect animal quarters, such as pens and stables, and equipment, such as saddles and bridles.
Do facility laundry and clean, organize, maintain, and disinfect animal quarters, such as pens and stables, and equipment, such as saddles and bridles.
Respond to questions from patrons, and provide information about animals, such as behavior, habitat, breeding habits, or facility activities.
Sell pet food and supplies.
Perform animal grooming duties, such as washing, brushing, clipping, and trimming coats, cutting nails, and cleaning ears.
Collect and record animal information, such as weight, size, physical condition, treatments received, medications given, and food intake.
Do facility laundry and clean, organize, maintain, and disinfect animal quarters, such as pens and stables, and equipment, such as saddles and bridles.
Answer telephones and schedule appointments.
Order, unload, and store feed and supplies.
Advise pet owners on how to care for their pets' health.
Provide treatment to sick or injured animals, or contact veterinarians to secure treatment.
Examine and observe animals to detect signs of illness, disease, or injury.
Observe and caution children petting and feeding animals in designated areas to ensure the safety of humans and animals.
Exercise animals to maintain their physical and mental health.
Observe and caution children petting and feeding animals in designated areas to ensure the safety of humans and animals.
Adjust controls to regulate specified temperature and humidity of animal quarters, nurseries, or exhibit areas.
Clean and disinfect surgical equipment.
Train animals to perform certain tasks.
Mix food, liquid formulas, medications, or food supplements according to instructions, prescriptions, and knowledge of animal species.
Order, unload, and store feed and supplies.
Answer telephones and schedule appointments.
Find homes for stray or unwanted animals.
Anesthetize and inoculate animals, according to instructions.
Discuss with clients their pets' grooming needs.
Install, maintain, and repair animal care facility equipment, such as infrared lights, feeding devices, and cages.
Feed and water animals according to schedules and feeding instructions.
Advise pet owners on how to care for their pets' health.
Transfer animals between enclosures to facilitate breeding, birthing, shipping, or rearrangement of exhibits.

Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.

Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.

Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

38400/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

18.46/hr

Currently Employed

8,270

Yearly Projected Openings

1710

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Integrity
Dependability
Self Control
Attention to Detail
Cooperation
Stress Tolerance

Aquariums
Articulating boom lift
Binocular light compound microscopes
Cages or its accessories
Cleaning scrapers
Compressed air gun
Dissolved oxygen meters
Diving instruments or accessories
Domestic hair dryers
Dosing droppers
Electric hair clipper
Electronic toploading balances
Forklifts
Handheld refractometers or polarimeters
Harnesses or its accessories
Immersion heaters
Inflatable rubber boat
Kennels
Laboratory ultraviolet UV sterilizers
Ladders
Muzzles
Oxidation reduction tester
Personal computers
Pet grooming products
Pressure or steam cleaners
Protective gloves
Respirators
Safety sleeves
Scaffolding
Scissor lift or lift table
Shears
Slings
Special hoses
Tongs
Underwater cameras
Underwater lighting
Veterinary nail trimmers or cutters
Water filters
Water pumps
Water purification equipment
Water testing and sampling kits
pH meters

Calendar and scheduling software
Data base user interface and query software
Electronic mail software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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